It still sounds...almost foreign to me, yet for four whole months now I’ve been thirty. That’s right. The big 3-0. Kinda like twenty, but...plus ten. This means I can no longer take comfort in the fact that I can still refer to myself as the ambiguous twenty-something. So now I’m referring to myself as a millennial.

I remember after twenty five, with each passing year, thirty seemed looming and ominous. Strangely enough, I didn’t have nearly as much anxiety and apprehension about turning thirty as I did about turning twenty-seven. And my anxiety and apprehension about turning twenty-seven was brought on by the fact that...I was almost thirty. Strange, isn’t it?

I will say, though, that it did feel bittersweet. My twenties were such a time of coming-of-age, as I imagine is true for anyone. A time of...mistakes, and lessons learnt, and self-discovery and growth and maturity. And even though it did make me a bit sad to say goodbye to my twenties, I was ready. Ready to move on to the next chapter of my life and excited about what my thirties would bring me.

Now that I’m four months into thirty, I’m sharing my wisdom. Dropping gems, as the young people say these days. Here are my thoughts from this side of thirty.

MYTH 1. You Should Have It All Figured Out

I think age thirty might be considered the quintessential, ‘grown-up’ age. Which, I suppose, is why society expects and perpetuates the idea that this is the age when we ought to have all our ducks in a row. Well, let me be the first to say that I, a proud millennial thirty-year old, most certainly do not have it all figured out. And my ducks are so not in a row...heck, I don’t even know where my ducks are. To be quite frank, some days I am still struggling to find my footing, but aren’t we all at some point or another? What does having it all figured out even mean, anyway? I suppose ranking high on some predetermined, one-size-fits-all benchmark of success and happiness. Here’s what’s important: Am I happy? Yes. Am I where I want to be? No, not yet. Do I have a plan to get there? Absolutely! The rest...I’ll figure out at my own pace. Imagine how monotonous life would be if everyone had it all figured out at thirty?!

MYTH 2. If It Hasn’t Happened Yet, It’ll Never Happen

Again, the ridiculous societal ideal that thirty is the age where...poof!...everything should fall right into place and you’ll never have to worry about anything ever again. You’ve got to have the dream career by thirty. Buy a house by thirty. Get married by thirty. Have a baby by thirty. Start eating your veggies at thirty. Geeze, can we just...live??? See #3.

MYTH 3.It’s Too Late To <insert aspiration here>

Go back to school. Start a business. Learn how to swim. Grow your edges back. There’s no time like the present, if you’re thirty or nineteen. Or forty or fifty. There are so many inspiring stories of people that only started to flourish in their professional and/or personal lives after thirty. I’ll be completely honest; I was one those people who was obsessed with ticking boxes off before turning thirty. Well, guess what? I’ve turned thirty and a number of those boxes remain unticked. Guess what else? I have every intention of ticking those boxes off, one by one. Maybe in six months. Maybe in a year, who knows? What I do know is that I won’t place limitations on myself. Certainly not when I’m only thirty.

MYTH 4. You’ll Feel Like A Real Grown Up

In a lot of ways, I still have a lot in common with my 10 year old self. I still enjoy Scooby-Doo. I still live for gummy candies. I draw a princess, and trees and flowers the same way I did then. I still read the last page of a book before a I start. And you know what, I like it! Of course now, I’m a mom and a partner, and I pay bills and do groceries, and plan meals and make doctor’s and dentist’s appointments, and attend parent-teacher evenings and work meetings but I still don’t feel grown up. And I'm not so sure that I want to.

MYTH 5. Thirty Is The New Twenty

Please stop lying to these good people! Thirty is most certainly not the new twenty. Never has been, never will be. If you don’t believe me, ask my knees. I think this ‘thirty is the new twenty’ business is a coping mechanism for people who aren’t quite ready to say goodbye to their twenties. Or a feeble attempt at trying to stave off time's inevitable passage. Both of which I think are unhealthy. I think a successful transition from one phase life to the next means being able to let go of what was and look forward to what's to come. Clinging on is never a good thing. Our collective fixation with staying "forever young" certainly doesn't help. But the fact is, even if you look and feel like twenty, thirty is...thirty. And I am A-Ok with that. At twenty I was naive, timid, full of self-doubt and, like most twenty year-olds, struggling to find my place and voice. Now at thirty, I'm more at ease with myself than I've ever been. More accepting of myself than I've ever been. Do I ever feel nostalgic about being twenty? You betcha! Oh, to be twenty again? No, thank you very much!

So, to sum up, thirty is...not as scary as it is made out to be. I haven't shriveled away into obscurity nor have I lost my zest for life. If anything, I'm happier, more motivated and more at peace than I've ever been. Thirty is pretty darn good, you ask me. I really feel like my best is yet to come.

With the clamour and excitement of the holidays already 12 days (!!) behind us and the routine of life settling in once again, the sentimentality of new year's resolutions has waned for most. As mentioned in my previous post, I did not make any resolutions but I did spend quite a bit of time reflecting on 2017. While some of the best things in my life came to fruition last year, I am still very aware that I was not at my best in many areas of my life. And that is my only real goal for 2018 and beyond. To be my best self. And in order to be my best self, there are some habits that I need to leave behind. Frankly, I think everyone should leave these energy-sucking habits behind. We'd all be better for it.

1. GIVING F*CKS

This might be the hardest one because, unfortunately for me, I was born a f*ck giver. I gave waaayyy too many f*cks in 2017. And in 2016. And every year before that. If I had a penny for every f*ck I gave, I'd have enough to retire on my own private island. But I'm just over it! Over being consumed with what people might say or think. Over wanting to be liked. Over anything that takes away from me living my best life. I’m officially out of f*cks to give.

2. COMPARING YOURSELF

"Comparison is the thief of joy". I discovered this quote by Theodore Roosevelt a few years ago and it has resonated with me ever since. I think this is something that most millenials probably struggle with in today’s hyper-competitive, look-at-how-awesome-my-life-is world. The funny thing is that if we took the time to actually be present in our own lives we’d appreciate the beauty of what is ours and no one else’s, and realize that there is more than enough room for us all. There’s absolutely no reason for anyone else’s success or accomplishments to take away from my happiness or diminish my success. You don’t need to compete with anyone. You are you and that is your power.

3. SETTLING FOR MEDIOCRITY

There are way too many people walking amongst us, completely oblivious to their mediocrity. Or even worse, completely content in their mediocrity. Completely unaware of the power they have to change their own lives. Let’s not be one of those people. Can we all stop settling for good enough? Let’s not be lazy about our dreams. Let’s not be lax about our goals. Let’s be great this year, yes?

4. BEING UNORIGINAL

I don’t know about you but I am sick of seeing someone on my Instagram feed who looks like someone else who looks like someone else who looks exactly like someone else. Or every other song on the radio that sounds like the other song which is a sample of another song from the 80s. Everything is all so much...the same. It’s so uninspiring. Whatever happened to doing your own thing? Being unique? Standing out? It’s so funny how everyone says “Do you, I’ll do me”. Ok, well do you then! Not her, YOU! Shoot, I’m about to do me like I’ve never been done before. Wait... that didn’t sound right. But..you know what I mean!

5. LIVING IN ECHO CHAMBERS

You know what, I think 2017 was a year that, for many obvious reasons, tilted the balance in a way which hadn’t been seen before. Certainly not in my lifetime. There were all these extremely polarizing opinions about everything under the sun and God forbid if you share your opinion on the wrong side of Facebook. I think a healthy dialogue is of such great importance, especially as it concerns coexisting with those who we may not see eye to eye with. And in order for such a dialogue to happen, we all need to be a bit more open to listening, even when we may not agree. The fact is this is where we are and we need to find a way to get to where we need to be. And that certainly won’t happen if we’re all shoving our heads in the sand.

Let's leave everything that's holding us back, weighing us down and stealing our joy in 2017. Let's make 2018 a year of Love and Light. And good vibes only.

Happy New Year, beautiful people! I wish for you a heart full of happiness and mind set on relentlessly chasing those dreams.

Am I the only one still completely reeling from how fast 2017 flew by? I mean, what in the entire heck?! It’s actually quite embarrassing seeing that the last post on here was back in..GULP!..February, 2017! Say what?!!!!

Well, let that serve as a lesson to me and to you that there is no time like the present. Time waits for woman so all those things that you’ve been putting on hold…stop putting them on hold and start pursuing NOW!

Which brings me to…. where have I been?

I’ve been RIGHT HERE.

After starting 2017 on high with landing an article in a national publication (which you can read here), getting my first piece published in print, being offered a travel collaboration and landing a great, new job, what was supposed to be my year of greatness turned into a year of...quiet observation and routine. To be brutally honest, I procrastinated. I kept putting off my next`post/project until tomorrow. And each tomorrow turned into a new tomorrow. And the weeks turned into months and, well...a whole year went by.

Which brings us to NOW.

A brand new year with the promise of new beginnings and new opportunities. Listen, I won't make any big, bold promises about what I'm going to do. I'm just going to do it. A 'quiet' year doesn't necessarily mean a wasted one. I've certainly grown over the past year by leaps and bounds. I'm more self-assured, more certain of what I want and so much more committed to pursuing my goals and by extension, this blog.

So, with that said, let's make 2018 a year of NO. MORE. EXCUSES. Just do it.

I can be pretty impatient. Maybe it's the millennial in me (you know, entitled and wants life to be handed to me on a silver platter). Or maybe I'm just naturally an impatient person. Maybe a bit of both. In any case, whether I'm waiting in line at the grocery store or waiting to hear back from an editor on a pitch, the wait is always too long. I mean, is it really too much to ask to have everything...like, now. Sheesh! And, of course, my impatience is only compounded by the steady stream of 'pings' and 'buzzes' that feed and fuel my need for instant gratification daily.

Towards the end of last year I started reflecting. You know, thinking about the year that was and what I wanted for the year and years to come. And I realized two things: 1) that I was so plugged in that I wasn't really living in real time anymore; 2) that I was always preoccupied with what was to come next - kinda like living in a constant mental fast forward. It was draining and unhealthy. I was rarely ever just present in the moment. I couldn't continue like that. I didn't want to.

I think in today’s world where we’ve become so used to everything happening like that *snaps fingers*, the idea of having to wait is almost foreign. We're so used to instant responses, instant likes, instant purchases; we’re constantly trying to get results quicker, get somewhere faster. It’s ironic that in a world where everything is ‘Now’, we aren’t really enjoying what ‘Now’ really means. We are always eager to get to the next part or move on to the next thing.

At the start of the year I decided that one major change I wanted to make was to allow things to take the time they need to happen. To stop rushing things to fruition, but instead, to deliberately and meticulously sow the right seeds, and allow them to bloom when the time was right - this part was especially important. Often times I would find myself in my head living a moment that hasn't yet happened. And when it would happen, I'd be underwhelmed because, well, I'd already lived it in my head. I know, I've got serious issues.

I think we're all wired to constantly look forward. I've been hearing about my future before I even understood what it meant. Get good grades to I can go to a good school so I can get a good job so I can make enough money to buy a big enough house blah, blah. blah. Of course, planning for the future is important but when you're too busy living for the future, the beauty of what's happening now will fly right past you and you won't even know it.

Now that I have a family and I'm getting closer to twenty-ten, it's so important to me that I enjoy every single, precious moment. That I take the time to stop and smell the roses, literally. That I allow life to happen without hurrying it along. And, I’ll be honest, it hasn’t been easy trying to wean myself off the rush of instant gratification but right now I’ve got an e-mail that came in seven minutes ago in stewing in my inbox. Unopened. For me, that’s a record! My point is life isn’t always about looking forward to something new and exciting. If we’re always eager to get to the ‘new and exciting’ we’ll never enjoy what is. Life isn’t a movie. You can’t just skip to the good parts.

I truly believe that everything happens when it’s supposed to happen. And not a minute before then. So sow your seeds and let them be. Like a flower in bloom, good things take time.

Happy New Year! I wish you a year filled with Love, Light and so much happiness.

What a doozy of a year 2016 was! Highs, lows and just about everything in between. I'm probably in the majority when I say I was ready to see 2016 go. Having said that, there were some great life lessons learnt in 2016 and now that I'm able to reflect on the year that was, I have so much to be grateful for. I had some amazing experiences (visiting Thailand for the first time), took some big risks (quitting my job), make strides in establishing myself as a writer (being invited for a press trip to Haiti), put plans in motion for my blog (writing/creating more consistently and building my audience) and most important of all, enjoyed another fantastic year with my amazing family (Gabriel turned 4 this year and we celebrated with an awesome family trip to NYC and Julien and I celebrated our 6th year together).

2016 was also a year of quite a bit of self-discovery for me. Perhaps the most to date. I learned that I am capable of more than I give myself credit for. This isn’t really a new discovery but I learned that I need to be kinder to myself. A lot kinder. I learned that any goal I can conceive is within my capacity to achieve. I learned that fear is just a mirage to keep me ‘comfortable’.

Now that the chapter of 2016 has come to close, I am ready to welcome the new energy and all the possibilities that 2017 will hold. I am ready to work harder, to love deeper, to laugh louder, to dance crazier, to say what I mean and mean what I say, to take chances, and to live each and every day with purpose. Most of all, I am ready to grow. To shed the stale and superfluous and to, not just grow, but flourish.

So what resolutions have I made? I made one. My Master Resolution, if you will. It is this: I resolve to be the VERY BEST ME THAT I CAN BE. That means taking better care of myself - Mind, Body and Spirit. It means nurturing and deepening my sense of self. It means keeping my head down and not getting distracted by what anyone else is doing. It means planting seeds and being patient because good things take time. It means setting goals and crushing them. It means not sweating the small stuff but staying focused on what’s important. It means not dwelling on perceived failures but recognizing that every misstep is a lesson. It means celebrating small victories. Because every step in the journey counts.

I am so grateful for all the lessons that 2016 brought me and I am ready to embrace 2017 with a completely open heart. There's something great coming. I can just feel it. Can you?